Gina Jackson Personal Fitness

If you think health and fitness are only about throwing the weights around, riding or running for cardio and  sweating through that hot yoga class, believe me you are missing 90% of the point.  What you put in your body is as important and crucial to your body as moving it.  For that reason, since I love flavors with my clean food I am SCREAMING about the goodness of the new Chimole Salad the Green Kitchen has prepared with fresh fish. Read the rest of this entry →

I guess you can tell from my blog entries of late, that I have been playing around with another tool for core training in the past few months, using the TRX Suspension Trainer with both my personal workouts, my private strength/resistance clients and now my Pilates Mat students.

Defying gravity with a new challenge is making all of us stronger, sleeker and determined to continue using the tool.   The tool permits a full and complete range of motion throughout a workout, which in turn creates a more functional, safer and more successful method of training.  Read the rest of this entry →

Pilates is all about breathing, moving and building your strength; one breath at a time.   To heal and correct a body’s old habits requires re-training and re-education of motor control.  This involves new postures, movement patterns, mobility concerns and muscle imbalances. The Pilates method is a graceful, yet rigorous form of addressing each of these areas.  Private session training helps one to learn and work towards removing painful postures, correcting faulty movement patterns, improving mobility where needed and increasing stability where required.  In a studio setting, student and teacher work together to create an environment for optimal muscle balance and function. Read the rest of this entry →

After months of being locked inside, the last day of the series coincided with the first day of Summer. The weather cooperated (sans a little wind) and we took it to the mat outdoors. Read the rest of this entry →

A collaborative community effort with Omega Development Center brings mid-week and weekend Mind/Body and Weight Loss classes to Guttenberg, NJ.  We have lined up a number of amazing teachers to provide classes in Yoga, Tai Chi, Strength, Pilates and all with Child Care options for parents!

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I experienced two powerful Pilates workshops this summer. Two days were spent with other Pilates teachers, masters and instructors in the First Annual Power Pilates Teacher’s workshop; two days wonderfully jammed packed with eye opening, mouth watering, spine correcting details one could ask for – under $500. Read the rest of this entry →

We did it again! Another great Saturday morning in Braddock Park, this time we were Jammin’ In The Square.

In addition to the regular Upper and Lower Body work using the resistance bands and balls, a Pilates Mat inspired workout was used Read the rest of this entry →

Pilates, Yoga, Salsa Dance, Kickboxing and Boot Camp programs were the five featured exercise disciplines in the June 2007 issue of Bergen Health & Life. ThePilatesClub.Net and Gina Jackson, are among the experts featured in the publication.

The Hundred is a key exercise I use to instruct any client to begin stabilizing their abdominal wall. No matter what the age, size or shape or gender. The ability to stabilize the back, contract the abdominals, pump the arms and breathe at the same time can be very challenging for a beginner student.

Check out the article, the details for performing this exercise as well as the others featured. By the end of the summer, you may find yourself in a different body!

Work different muscles by varying your
routine

(HealthDay News)
– Cross training involves varying the type of exercises you do in each workout, to work different muscles.

For example, you might combine a cardio routine and weightlifting in one workout, for example use the elliptical and jump off the machine to perform some walking lunges, use the stationary rower followed by a lunge with a bicep curl and then simply go swimming the next time or take a pilates class.

Here are some of the benefits of cross training, courtesy of the University of Michigan
Health System:  You’ll work and condition your entire body, not just one area.

• You’ll limit stress on one area or set of muscles, preventing overuse injury.
• You can keep exercising — even if you do have an injury — by exercising other muscles or areas.
• You’ll help prevent boredom.

It’s what I do personally for all the reasons listed above.   Check out ThePilatesClub.net and TheStrengthClub.net  for some real examples.

Then, I recommend you use it on your abdominal work. If you only have 15 minutes to work out, use them to warm up with 1)The Hundred, then 2) Rollup, 3) Roll Like a Ball and do the 4) the Ab Series.

If you are clueless as to what the heck I am talking about then my second recommendation is to stop by ThePilatesClub.Net. You can learn from the dialogue with teacher, students and forum discussions or download a workout to help you with the fifteen minutes. Read the rest of this entry →